Japan wants Russia to scale down its military presence on the disputed island chain.
Japan asked Russia to reduce its military activities on a disputed island chain, known as the Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, during “two-plus-two” security talks between the foreign and defense ministers of Japan and Russia held in Moscow on July 31, according to Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera.
“We have asked the Russian side to take particular measures because Russia is building up its military potential on the four northern islands,” Onodera was quoted by Reuters as saying following a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu. A Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD) statement issued on July 31 reiterates that Russian military activities on the islands are “incompatible” with “the position of Japan” and “regrettable.”
The Japanese MoD singled out the deployment of Russian military aircraft on the disputed islands as a particular source of concern. In March 2018, the Russian Air Force deployed two Su-35S fighters to an airfield on Iturup (Etorofu in Japanese) — the largest and northernmost island in the southern Kurils — for the first time. The arrival of the aircraft was preceded by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signing a decree permitting the deployment of military aircraft to the civilian airport in February 2018. Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) lodged an official protest over the issue in the same month.
Russia’s military activities are seen in response to Moscow’s concern over the possible procurement of two U. S.-made land-based Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense batteries by Japan.
